Chapter 20
The knocking at the door woke them both up but neither of them acknowledged it, only getting a little closer to each other as they tried to sleep some more.
The knocking came again, along with a desperate plea.
"Your Majesty, please." They said, "There's a small problem with the Vallies."
Perse lifted her head from Kaname's chest, just enough to yell and glare at the door. "What's the problem?"
She checked the time on her watch, seeing that it was just turning six. The festival would begin as soon as the sun set at around half nine, giving them another three and a bit hours until they had to be ready and out.
"Persephone, get your ass out and go speak to the Vallie elder." Cera's voice seemed serious, making Perse sit up from where she had quite comfortably been laying. Kaname just smiled at her pout as she sat up, his hand at the small of her back where her shirt seemed to rid up in her sleep.
"Why?"
Cera opened the door, poking her head in. "Good, you're decent."
Perse gave her the finger as she felt Kaname's fingertips on the skin of her lower back, comforting in the way they just barely grazed her skin and never went any lower or higher than permitted.
"The Vallies are in your office, complaining and shouting."
Perse rubbed a hand down all of her face, waking herself up a little more as she leaned back onto her hands. It made his fingertips touch her back a little more but they didn't comment. "Why are they complaining?"
"They saw Minthe's dress,"
"Shit," Perse muttered, mentally preparing herself for an argument for a second before she started to get out of the bed with a grumble and groan as her back clicked. "Where're my shoes? Oh, fuck this. I'm wearing sliders."
She tucked her feet into a silver pair of sliders with a large amount of dark purple fur at the top. They looked ridiculous but they were comfortable.
Duke threw one look at his master before Kaname nodded, the dog suddenly jumping from the bed and troddening after his master's beloved.
Protection detail again, huh.
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"She cannot wear that dress!" Loren Vallie said, almost glaring at Persephone who sat behind her home desk with a bored look on her face. "Minthe is a Vallie and she will wear the Vallie colours. She cannot wear that green when our colours are amber and oak brown."
The dress in question was a beautiful sage sundress, longer than normal with it going down to around her upper calves. It had a wrap front that created a decent V neck. There were small trails of vines and bright red Dahlia flowers around the skirt hem. It complimented the slight redness in Minthe's otherwise ginger-brown hair, and allowed the green in her eyes to stand out.
"Minthe is a Redwater," Persephone stated, she was in diplomatic Royal mode.. "You've gone so far to make sure that she is acknowledged as a Redwater and as soon as she splits herself from you, you decide she cannot? As much as you want to control her, she is no longer part of your Clan. She really never was."
"She is part of my Clan and so she listens to her leader!" Loren slammed her hands onto Perse's desk, wanting to make the Princess flinch and show weakness but it never came.
"Right." Persephone clicked her tongue, standing up and leaning forward as she put her hands on the desk. "This is my office, my house, my Clan and my community. Remember who you are speaking to, Loren Vallie. Remember where you are and who you are talking to. Remember who is subject and who is royal."
"Not for long."
"Yeah?" The gem on Loren's necklace cracked as Persephone's eyes glowed, breaking in half before crumbling to the ground. Perse plumped her ass back in her chair, looking a tad more smug than she should have.
"You broke my necklace!"
"And I'll break your neck next." Persephone waved a hand dismissively at her. "Get out of my sight before I am tempted to."
"I am the elder of the Vallie Clan! You will treat me with respect!"
"While in your country, that might mean something, it doesn't mean anything here. The Vallies are not registered with the Order and so cannot call themselves a Clan, you are simply a large community. Your community is within Central Europe, you answer to Whitestone, so if you have problems with one of mine, which the Loset Clan is, you go to Ciel Whitestone to sort out." Persephone gestured to the door. "Get out before the temptation takes over. B-bye."
The Vallie elder did not look happy as she left the office, cursing swears under her breath.
Perse just rolled her eyes and watched as Minthe sighed, almost laughing in relief.
"I've never seen her so angry and defeated. It's brilliant!" Minthe laughed, swaying in her sage green dress.
"Some people need to know their place," Perse smiled softly, standing from her desk chair. "I need to check on the preparations."
"Shouldn't you go get dressed first?" She asked. "You'll be late otherwise."
"I'll have time."
Perse was more concerned with the guards than anything else.
The Greylight community was known for their guards and defensive Magic. They founded most of the military of the UK, family lines being so old that they spanned several royal dynasties of the civilians.
The others had already gotten dressed, leaving for the High Halls for other preparations.
She left for the High Halls a couple minutes after, telling her friends where they could find her before going.
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Perse didn't care that she was still wearing her fluffy purple sliders with her grey tailcoat while she spoke to the General of the United Arcane Army and her major advisors.
"The festival that is held in the Kaira forest is closed off here," General Hardrada gestured to the map that sat in front of Perse at the head of the table. She stood behind the Crown Greylight, pointing to several entries and exits. "Anyone who isn't authorised can't get in. We have put Magic dampeners in some areas that have had problems with overrunning with Magic control problems. We kept the dampeners away from the platform and near the lake, as per your request."
"Putting dampeners there will just cause more harm than good since we have the Riverdance happening," Persephone said, her voice calm and clear. She looked up at the long table of men and women, many of whom wore grey tailcoats but there were also a couple black and white. "And with the Lycans and Vampires also attending?"
"We have a couple Whitestones acting as unallied clan members that have been asked to follow them," Another said. "Your friends have been excluded from it but one of them, Hanabusa Aido, has family coming over too so they'll be put on watch too."
"Good," She said. "I don't want there to be any harm done to them or us. Have we got a few Poison Masters on standby? Some Healers would help too now that I'm thinking about it properly."
General Hardrada sat down to Persephone's right, nodding as she clasped her hands in front of her. "Yes. We have permits for the Poison Masters to carry their ingredients and potions on them during the festival, along with the Healers having their styluses for any major wounds that may occur. We don't anticipate any major harm happening, perhaps a couple drunken brawls but nothing too dangerous."
"Good, good. Anything else that needs addressing?"
One of the men at the other end of the table raised their hand. "There've been requests for Human fireworks and I hadn't given them an answer until I knew what the verdict would be on that."
"What type of fireworks?"
"They said…" He looked at the paper in front of him. "Several ground-based ones; firecracker, wheel, snake, strobe, fountain, and ground sparklers, along with a few aerial ones; shell, reloadable, and a single rocket."
Persephone learned forward as he sent the paper down to her with a gush of small air Magic to make it lay down before her. She read the list down, nodding. "Okay, the ground-based ones are fine but they need to be kept out of the forest area. But I don't want any fireworks in the forest unless there are some Fire-disciplined Mages there. Keep that to the edge with a few in attendance and I'll be happy to let it happen. The aerial ones are good but I want you to make sure they're up to the top standard for Humans before we even think of firing them."
"Your Majesty, someone is at the door,"
"Who?"
"The Vampires, Lady Souen and Lady Toya are asking for you,"
"Let them in."
Ruka and Rima came into the room, both dressed in their beautiful dresses. As foreign guests, they didn't have to wear colours of any of the Clans and so got to choose what they wore. Ruka was in a dark dress with tulle around the skirt that had white designs of flowers while Rima had on a sky blue number with a lighter blue as it reached down to her feet where a small slit allowed her to walk.
"Perse, you need to get dressed," Ruka said, carrying a large bag that held Perse's dress over her shoulder. Rima held the shoes.
"There's like an hour to get ready, if that," Rima stated. "The boys are already ready at the manor. We're just waiting for you and Hanabusa, but we all know that he'll take another twenty minutes at the very least."
General Hardrada turned to Persephone. "We have things covered here, Your Majesty. You can go ahead, we will make sure to keep you up to date."
Perse nodded and stood, watching as they all stood too. "Thank you."
Many of them bowed their heads as she walked out of the room, Ruka and Rima following quickly behind her.
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"Persephone!" Ruka yelled at her door. "You're taking longer than Hanabusa did! What are you doing that will take you so long to get ready? We're waiting for you! The guys are already downstairs and the car has already pulled up."
Perse opened her door, stalking out with her low heeled sandals clacking against the flooring. "I am tryna get this fucking circlet to sit straight but it refuses."
Both girls started to make the descent down the stairs as Ruka snatched the circlet from her. "I'll do it for you when we get into the car."
The guys looked handsome as they stood at the very bottom of the stairs. Shirts were loose and thin, usually coloured in one solid shade or another as they were tucked into a darker pair of trousers.
Takuma, Senri and Seiren were also attending tonight. The school year was over.
Akatsuki and Kaname were waiting for them at the very end, holding hands out for them to take for the very last steps as they suddenly slowed their descent.
"You look beautiful," Kaname smiled, raising her hand so he could place a peck on her knuckles like a gentleman. He wore a black poet shirt that had the front lacing done very loosely, the silver design around the collar and his wrists were slightly floral. It was tucked into a tight pair of black leather trousers that did wonders for his ass, as Perse noticed.
Perse flipped her hair out of her face, the beach waves beautiful in mixing the plum purple into the charcoal as she smiled. "I know."
That made Ichiru and Hanabusa snort.
"Oh, fuck off," Perse laughed, flipping her hair a little with a shrug. "When you look this good, you need to own it."
Her pale lilac dress did wonders for her complexion, making her skin gleam like it was covered in glitter or Magic. The off-the-shoulder sheer sleeves showed off her shoulders, upper back and the tops of her breasts were the crystal necklace nestled. The sleeves went down to her wrists, becoming loose around the arms but tight only around the wrists. The bodice was fitted to her curves to show them off. The skirt went down to her ankles, two slits, one on either thigh going all the way up until it hit her waist but overlapped when it hit her upper thigh.
She wore a thin silver corset that pushed her bosom upwards a little, structured enough to give support but not enough to restrict her at all.
Her makeup was very simple, only a little glamour Magic to add the shimmer of silver on her eyelids.
"We off?" Perse asked, going ahead of them.
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"Welcome to the annual Summer Solstice!" Persephone toasted with a glass of champagne, standing on a raised platform in her pastel purple dress, so light it almost looked like a silver colour instead.
The area was wooded forest with thin trees every few feet with several clearings of space where tables and chairs were placed. Within the trees were lanterns of blue flames,lighting up the darkening place where several thousand people stood. The forest was actually huge, spanning a couple hundred acres but they had all congregated where the lakeside was near the shore.
Many members of the Order and Court stood around the raised level. Court members stood with their families and children, with the Sallows to one side where the Vampires also stood. Takuma, Senri, Rima and Seiren stood around Kaname. Hanabusa's family also joined the festivities.
Everyone was light on layers, flowing dresses and thin tunic. It was far too hot for anything more than that, but they all wore some sort of makeup to show their festive spirits.
"Welcome friends and family," Ciel continued, dressed in a loose shirt that showed off his stomach and chest. His family crest was painted onto one side of his chest, large and vibrant with the brightness of the blue. "We have some extra guests this year. Vampires from Asia, and the Shifters from the Americas. We ask that you all behave yourselves or be asked to leave."
Brona raised her glass. "Let the shortest night festivities begin!"
The three Crowns toasted before everyone began to socialise.
Perse didn't drink her glass, not liking the taste of champque so she just walked down the tiny stairs and onto the forest floor.
"Sir Aido," Perse greeted with the biggest grin, as she let him take her hand and pressed a kiss onto it. "Pleasure to see you and your family at this event. I am so glad you've taken up my offer."
"This will be my first Summer Solstice event," He said. He and his family wore simple yukatas with beautiful summer designs.
Tsukiko stepped forward, looking at Perse's outfit. "I love your dress."
"Thank you."
"It's very fantasy-like," Tsukiko said. "Beautiful though."
Perse lifted the bottom piece of her dress, showing off the dark purple gladiator sandals, wrapping all the way up to her knees. "I went for a fairy type look. A little less urban and a little more medieval."
"And that mark on your back?" Mrs Aido asked, her blue eyes soft as she questioned.
"That one is my family crest," Perse said. "I had a Sigil tattooed not long ago but it has now been removed and replaced by the bird."
"A Lightning Bird?"
"Known for lightning and bloodlust," She smiled. "Yes. A Lightning Bird has been the Greylight crest for centuries."
To the side of a large wooden platform with wooden poles that lined the sides with glowing white flowers letting lights emit from their petals, several dozen people were gathering by the edge.
There were two benches on either side of the platform, several teens and young adults began to gather there, sitting down on the benches in shades of cream and yellow as they sat next to each other.
The Blackwoods sat between each Whitestone, letting it go one Clan and then the other. They started to clap and gently tap their feet to a beat, getting louder with their taps until the beat got everyone's attention.
"Right. You all best gather round," A man said, standing on one of the benches as he gestured to the platform. "The Riverdance will begin soon!"
"Riverdance?" Sir Aido asked, looking at Perse as she just looked over her shoulder at the platform before waving them to follow her over.
"It's an irish dance," She said, placing her glass on one of the nearby tables and watching the cahampque turn into a fruity drink that was originally a monster energy flavour. "The ones in the dark, slightly mustard yellow are the dancers, mostly people from the Greylight community, while the singers are the ones in the cream and drummers are the plain yellow."
"Drummers? There are no drums or instruments of any kind?" Mrs Aido said. "Not that I can see, at least."
"We are Magic."
It started with two males, Berket and Usher dressed in dark brown trousers and bright mustard poet shirts. They tapped across the wooden platform, once, twice and thrice, each time doing a couple twists and turns here and there to increase the tapping.
When they finished, simple tapping and clapping turned to proper drumming. The sound that came from each person was the sound a drum would make.
As the next person came onto the stage, the drumming stopped to let them tap away at the wood to the tune befitting the dance. Their feet moved but their torsos stayed still as they were light footed but loud against the wood. They held their arms out as they turned, keeping balance and stopping whenever the drum began.
It got to the stage where the person became quicker with their steps, the pace fastening as their little solo ended. More and more people joined in now, slowly approaching the middle as they lined up to start tapping away in the silence.
The tune changed as only a few of them tapped their feet against the floor, moving forwards before going back to line up. It changed again when the other dancers joined in. They got into a good rhythm again, letting the audience watch them dance before the music started again.
The singers began to sing, a sound that was a lot more like a violin or fiddle than an actual voice. It morphed with the drumming as the dancers continued when the drums started.
"Hey, Princess," Bereket called out as he stood in the middle of the group with his brother as they danced on the stage. "You coming up to help finish this?"
"It's been too long since I've last danced," Perse said to them.
Usher rolled his eyes. Both brothers came off of the stage as the rest of the group continued to dance as the music stayed. They pulled Perse onto the stage as the dancers made room for them in the middle.
They had pulled her on the section she liked the most, where they had to cross one foot in front of the other and where the music silenced to listen to their perfectly in sync taps. They pivoted only on their heels, turning their feet to one side and then the other a few times. It allowed Perse to get the rhythm before the proper dance started again.
Perse held part of her skirt up, not wanting to trip herself or another as she got into the rhythm of tapping again. Her shoes might have not been tap shoes but they worked well enough for this, letting her bend her feet when needed to get a specific sound.
It took the music increasing its pace for the dance to end with one foot on the ground while the other was crossed over the leg to make the toe touch the floor.
The crowd and audience applauded as they all bowed.
Perse bowed too, quickly getting off the stage and jabbing both of her male cousins in the chest with her long nails. "You do this every year!"
"And you fall for it every time," Usher laughed, hugging her.
Bereket snickered. "You mean her ego tells her to be in the spotlight."
She fake gasped. "Shut up."
"It's true."
She gave them the finger as she walked over to her friends again, congratulating her on the mini performance.
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Here's a quick question; Should I write in a sex scene BEFORE Perse is 18 or AFTER she is 18? It wouldn't be too graphic or I could just make it like a And it fades to black, and bam, the morning after! The timing of it won't actually make a big difference but it would help with solidifying where the relationship is going. In the UK, the age of consent is 16, and since Kaname and Perse are (techanlly, if gone by the full plot of the Manga) the same age anyway.